The number of injuries and fatalities associated with residential fires in which a mattress, furniture article or other filled item was the first item ignited or where these products exacerbated the fire event has led to regulatory efforts to reduce flammability of mattresses, upholstered furniture and bedclothes used in homes and other occupancies.
The passage of Assembly Bill 603 in the California Legislature of Assembly required that all mattresses and sleep surfaces sold in the State of California since Jan. 1, 2005, meet an open flame resistance standard described in the state's Technical Bulletin #603 (TB #603). Regulation and enforcement of TB #603 have fallen to the state's Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (BHFTI).
In addition, the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) is currently in the rule-making phase of developing new regulations for further reducing mattress flammability beyond the level required by the Cigarette Ignition Standards as codified in Part 1632 of the Code of Federal Regulations 16 (16 CFR 1632) (or formerly FF 4-72) since the 1970's. This was announced in the Federal Register Notice of Public Rule Making (NPR) published Jan. 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 9 Page 2470) and is proposed as 16 CFR 1633, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Additionally, the CPSC is engaged in evaluation of a bedclothes flammability standard as an adjunct to its mattress flammability work. This work has been announced in the Federal Register Advance Notice of Public Rule Making (ANPR) published Jan. 13, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 9 Page 2514) and is proposed as 16 CFR 1634. It is to be noted however that this designation may change as the same 16 CFR 1634 designation is cited in the CPSC Staff Draft Standard for Upholstered Furniture Flammability published in May 2005.
The topic of “bedclothes flammability” is also under scrutiny by the State of California under the BHFTI Technical Bulletin #604 which is presently in draft form as published on Oct. 1, 2004, and pending final comment, revision, approval and enactment into law as of July 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The CPSC and the BHFTI have both been engaged in the process of evaluating improved degrees of furniture flammability performance. The BHFTI efforts are embodied in efforts to revise the testing requirements found in California Technical Bulletin #117. The present CPSC efforts actually initially commenced in 1994 with the publication of an Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking (ANPR) to initiate regulatory proceedings under the Federal Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA) covering the principal fire risks to upholstered furniture: ignition by smoldering cigarettes and ignition by small open flame sources (e.g., lighters, matches and candles). In May 2005, the CPSC published a Staff Draft Standard for Upholstered Furniture Flammability
Numerous international and maritime standards also exist for the evaluation of mattresses, bedding sets, upholstered furniture and filled articles. Among these are BS (British Standard) 5852 Part 1, BS 5852 Part 2, BS 5852: 1990 Section 4, BS 5852: 1990 Section 5, BS 6807:1986, BS 7176, BS EN 1021-1, BS EN 1021-2, BS EN 597-1, BS EN 597-2, BS 7175, BS EN ISO 12952: Parts 1-4, International Maritime Organisation Method (IMO) A 652 (16) for upholstered furniture, and IMO A 652 (17) for bedding, as well as their material equivalents that have been adopted by various countries throughout the world.
The new standards for flammability of residential mattresses, upholstered furniture and bedding articles embodied in TB #603, TB #604, the revisions to TB #117, the 16 CFR 1633 proposal and the CPSC draft language on furniture have added to the realm of flammability testing previously available for the design of products targeted for institutional applications. Institutional settings, such as healthcare, dormitory and corrections, have used California Technical Bulletin #121, California Technical Bulletin #129, Boston Fire Department IX-11, ASTM E-1590, Underwriters Laboratory (UL) 1895, and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 267, to assess performance of full-scale composite mattresses and mattress foundations against open flame ignition sources, California Technical Bulletin 133, ASTM E-1537 and NFPA 266, to assess performance of full-scale composite furniture items and mock-ups against open flame ignition sources, and NFPA 701, California Technical Bulletin #117, NFPA 260, NFPA 261, 16 CFR 1632, and UL 1975 to assess small scale performance of component materials used in mattresses, furniture and filled articles against small open flames and smoldering cigarette ignition sources.
Institutional bedding installations typically require only a mattress and no foundation. Such mattresses may be simply a solid core of polyurethane foam, latex foam or other foam composition, which may be combustion modified to some degree as well. Many of the components used in institutional mattresses and sleep support surfaces, including fill materials and covering fabrics are subject to performance testing according to test criteria such as NFPA 701 and California Technical Bulletin No. 117.
Such requirements for full scale, open flame resistant performance in mattresses, mattress foundations, bedclothes and other similarly filled articles comprising resilient cushioning materials have created new demands for performance oriented fire barrier textiles and related materials.
One approach to reducing flammability of mattresses, mattress foundations, upholstered furniture and other filled articles, such as bedclothes, has been to treat fabrics used in their construction with chemical flame retardants. However, these chemical treatments may be objectionable because of distasteful odors which are noticeable when in close contact with the materials, off-gassing obnoxious elements, stiffness of the fabric caused by such treatments, which may compromise the comfort of the finished mattress or mattress foundation, and the potential temporary durability of such treatments, which may compromise the long term protection from open-flame, smoldering ignition and radiant/thermal heat flux sources. Additional objectionable traits of such topically applied chemistries may be consumer backlash and rejection of such treatments, out of concern for the toxic effects of such treatments on human health, as evidenced by the public reaction and subsequent regulatory control to findings of the flame retardant PBDE in human tissue and breast milk, and the potential adverse effects on the environment as the chemistries progress through the product life cycle from manufacturing through use and ultimate disposal.
The use of inherent flame retardant fibers in the design of fire barrier and thermal insulation textiles and related materials has shown to be both effective in terms of performance and preferable in terms of the marketing attributes associated with them. The following fibers have been found to be particularly useful in such applications: aramids, including para-aramids (poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide), e.g., KEVLAR® (Dupont Corporation) and TWARON® (Teijin Twaron BV) and meta-aramids (poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide), such as Nomex® (Dupont Corporation) and Conex® (Teijin Twaron BV); fiberglass; melamines such as BASOFIL® (BASF/Mckinnon-Land-Moran, LLC); poly-benzimidazole (PBI) (Celanese Acetate A.G); oxidized polyacrylonitrile (PAN); novoloids, such as KYNOL® (American Kynol, Inc); pre-oxidized fibers and carbon fibers, modacrylics, such as, e.g., KANECERON® and PROTEX® (Kaneka), SEF (Solutia) and LUFNEN® (Kanebo Goshen), FR (fire- or flame-resisting, -resistant, -retarding or -retardant) rayon, FR viscose, such as, e.g., VISIL® (Sateri Oy) and LENZING FR® (Lenzing AG, Fibers Division), and wool. It should be noted that these fibers are merely exemplary, and other fire-retardant fibers that integrate their performance during polymerization of the fibers, including fibers that are developed in the future may be used.
The use of flame retardant fibers that have achieved such performance through chemical treatment that is topically applied to the fibers prior to formation into textile articles, are specifically excluded from embodiments contemplated by the present invention. These treatments to fibers or fabrics may be non-durable or durable in nature. Typical non durable finishes include, mono and diammonium phosphate, ammonium bromide, ammonium chloride, boric acid, borax, ammonium borate, ethanolammonium borate, phosphate or sulfamate, ammonium sulfamate, organic phosphate esters, halogenated organic compounds. Durable finishes may include, halogenated organic compounds like decabromodiphenyl oxide, chlorinated or brominated paraffin, chlorinated or brominated binders, thiourea, hydrated alumina, graphite, antimony oxides, and the like. These chemical treatments may be applied to organic fibers, such as cotton, kenaf, ramie, hemp, flax, or jute, or to known synthetic fibers, such as nylon, polyester, rayon or the like.
The retrofit cover described by the present invention may also incorporate other performance enhancing or finishing elements, such as treatments or preparations that are anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-acaral, or anti-bacterial in nature. Other finishing chemistries like antistatic, dyestuffs, water and oil repellents, surfactants, and other treatments are also contemplated by the present invention. Such auxiliary finishing treatments may be omitted and the knitted fabric with fire barrier properties may simply be used in its natural, greige state without detriment to the desired fire resistant performance.
According to the International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) the domestic US mattress industry shipped mattresses and foundation units in 2004 totaling 41,175,600 pieces or roughly 20,587,800 sets of bedding. In the preceding 10 years for which they tracked this data, the total is 365,508,500 pieces and for the preceding 15 years for which they tracked this data, the total is 522,104,100 pieces. These represent an installed base of between approximately 182,500,000 and 261,052,050 sets of bedding prior to purchases in 2004 based on the expected service life of the bedding prior to replacement to be between 10 and 15 years.
The benefits of improved flammability design in newly manufactured mattresses and mattress foundations mandated by regulatory efforts such as California Assembly Bill #603 and the CPSC work under 16 CFR 1633, will likely require more than a decade of sales to accrue the expected benefits of reduced exposure to fire risks.
It is reasonable to expect that the life cycles of upholstered furniture items will result in similar time frame to accrue to benefits of improved flammability design in newly manufactured upholstered furniture items once regulatory activity governing these items is concluded.
While the life cycle for articles filled with resilient cushioning materials, such as mattress pads, comforters, pillows and the like is not predicted to be as long as for mattresses, mattress foundations and upholstered furniture articles, the expected benefits to be accrued by regulatory efforts governing these items will also likely take as many as ten years to fully penetrate consumer use through replacement of the installed base of products that predate the effective date of such regulation.
It reasonable to expect that as Federally mandated performance standards are enacted to govern response of such articles to ignition sources, there will be increasing consumer awareness of the potential disparity in performance between products in their homes manufactured prior to the newly mandated performance requirements and the newly introduced product offerings. Further, it is also reasonable to expect many consumers (especially those who have made more recent purchases of such articles and where the condition of such articles does not yet dictate replacement) will seek out solutions to address the disparity in fire resistant performance through refitting or modifying their existing possessions.
Substantially present in the field of mattress marketing is the premium placed on the aesthetic designs of the traditional mattress tickings. Industry research estimates are that females play the role of primary decision makers in 80% of sales of mattresses and foundations. Tickings have anecdotally been designed to replicate the appearance of a “wedding dress” to appeal to these buyers. In some cases the patterns or designs are printed onto fabrics used as the exterior ticking material. Damask fabrics typically used for mattress tickings have routinely knitted or woven texture or patterns into the material. These patterns and textures lend design elements that consumers value in the purchase process.
There have been efforts to address the flammability risk of mattresses, mattress foundations, upholstered furniture articles and articles filled with resilient cushioning materials, but these efforts have been universally targeted at the new construction of the composite items that are covered under regulatory efforts and these works do not show evidence of contemplating the benefits to the “installed user base” of the present invention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,991, to Klancnik, Mar. 19, 1985, describes an improved mattress includes a composite made of a layer of a fire retardant material capable of providing a heat barrier bonded to a layer of high tensile strength material, such as fiberglass fabric.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,368, to Forsten, Nov. 26, 1996, discusses a fire-resistant material used in items such as sleeping bags, comforters, wearing apparel, upholstered furniture and mattress tops comprises a fiberfill batt and a layer of a fire-resistant aramid fiber contacting at least one side of the aramid fiber layer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,752, to Dougan, Jun. 6, 1978, discusses an improved combination of box spring and mattress is provided. The mattress has a core of a particular class of flame-retarded flexible polyurethane foam and, optionally, has an outer layer of flexible polyimide foam fabricated to surround said core. The foam core, optionally with outer layer of polyimide foam, is enclosed in a flame retardant or retarded ticking (flame retarded cotton, polyvinyl chloride, fiber glass cloth, high temperature resistant polymeric fiber cloth). The box spring has a non-combustible frame and, optionally, is padded with a flame retarded flexible polyurethane foam, such as that used in the aforesaid mattress, or a flexible polyimide foam.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,146,759 and 6,410,140, to Land, Nov. 14, 2000 and Jun. 25, 2002 respectively, discussed a fire resistant corespun yarn. The yarn includes a core of a high temperature resistant continuous filament comprising fiberglass and a low temperature synthetic continuous filament selected from nylon, polyester, polyethylene and polyolefin, the core being two-plied. This yarn may be woven and knit in fine, non-plied or plied form and extends the range of fineness of fabrics below heretofore achievable limits. Also provided is a fire resistant fabric which includes a fire resistant fabric substrate formed from the fire resistant corespun yarn, as well as a product upholstered with the fire resistant fabric.
Numerous other examples of innovative design approaches to fire barrier design for mattresses and mattress foundations have recently been offered, including the following                a. Mason and Hale-Blackstone (20040062912) (Ser. No. 10/262,133) filed Oct. 1, 2002        b. McGuire and Taylor                    i. (20040097156)(Ser. No. 10/298,990) filed Nov. 18, 2002            ii. (20040102112)(Ser. No. 10/714,370) filed Nov. 14, 2003            iii. (20040106347)(Ser. No. 10/714,132) filed Nov. 14, 2003                        c. Mater and Handermann (PCT WO 03-023108) filed Sep. 11, 2002        d. Murphy and Slavik                    i. U.S. Pat. No. 6,823,548, issued Nov. 30, 2004            ii. (20040060120)(Ser. No. 10/661,292) filed Sep. 12, 2003All of these works provide for the creation of fire barrier fabrics designed to protect mattresses and upholstered furniture from open flame ignition sources, yet they universally indicate that the barriers are part of the original manufacture of the composite articles and they do not contemplate use of the barriers to create an “after-market”, retrofit cover that can be installed by the consumer. Furthermore, none of them disclose the use of a double knit textile as disclosed by the present invention.                        
US Application 20040139552 (Ser. No. 10/702,358) filed Nov. 6, 2003, to Walters, et al, discloses a removable mattress cover assembly that includes a removable mattress cover that attaches to an upright wall assembly. The upright wall assembly includes an upright wall that attaches to a top of a mattress base and one or more wall fasteners attached at or near the top of the upright wall. The removable mattress cover includes cover fasteners that mate with respective wall fasteners to attach the cover to the upright wall. When the cover fasteners are attached to the wall fasteners, the removable mattress cover lays over the top of the mattress base, and the upright wall is nearly perpendicular to the removable mattress cover. This allows a fill material that is nearly the same size as the top of the mattress to be inserted beneath the removable mattress cover. The fasteners can project upwardly, away from the top of the mattress base, making the fasteners easily accessible from above.
US Application 20050097652 (Ser. No. 11/001,893) filed Dec. 1, 2004, to Rock, et al, discloses a composite velour fabric garment includes a laminate consisting of an outer woven shell layer, an inner thermal layer of knit construction, and an intermediate layer disposed between and laminated to each of the shell layer and the thermal layer.
US Application 20050115001 (Ser. No. 10/997,933) filed Nov. 29, 2004, to Horst, describes a bedding article which includes a core and a flame-resistant protective cover surrounding and enclosing the core.
However, none of these solutions is capable of delivering the complete scope of consumer desirable features and performance benefits contemplated by the present invention. The user-installable nature of the retrofit design will extend performance benefits to the preponderance of installed mattresses and other filled articles in service prior to adoption of new regulatory mandates. The preferred selection of inherent fibers mirrors the growing trend toward more environmentally conscious materials and away from increased presence of chemical treatments. The ability to incorporate decorative elements into the fabric design will add to the appeal to consumers. The fact that the retrofit cover installs over the complete existing design of the mattress or other similarly filled article and does not require the removal of any material from the existing article by the consumer or end-user requires that it posses the enhanced protective capabilities to protect the filling materials from ignition as well as the existing covering materials.